As a 10-year member of the USWNT and a key contributor at two previous World Cups, attacker Tobin Heath is one of the more wizened veterans of the 20-player group selected to earn America’s place at the 2019 Women’s World Cup via the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championship.
With 138 caps to her name, Heath is the fifth most-capped player on the USWNT’s Women’s Championship roster. At the age of 30, she’s the sixth oldest.
Alongside the likes of Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn, Heath will be a key member for the squad both on and off the pitch as it looks to hit the ground running at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, tonight against Mexico.
With three games in seven days, the margin for error is minute in matches against El Tri, Panama and (oh god dammit) Trinidad and Tobago. If the U.S. fails to finish in one of the two top spots in Group A, that’s it, it’s over. No trip to France next summer.
But as you can see from Heath’s interview above, that’s an outcome that this group is unwilling to countenance, and it’s easy to understand why. In two friendlies against Mexico back in April, the U.S. won by a combined scoreline of 10-3. The U.S. last met T&T back on February 19, 2016, and recorded a 5-0 win. The side hasn’t played Panama since the Pan American Games in 2007, when the States recorded a 3-1 win.